The annual Tampa Bay Frogman Swim brings together 150 swimmers, 150 kayakers and hundreds of volunteers — all to support the Navy SEAL Foundation.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — As the sun rose over Gandy Beach Sunday morning, more than a thousand people gathered for a mission far greater than the swim ahead of them.
The annual Tampa Bay Frogman Swim brings together 150 swimmers, 150 kayakers and hundreds of volunteers — all to support the Navy SEAL Foundation. The event has grown into one of the most meaningful gatherings of the year for Gold Star families who travel from across the country.
Event founder Dan O’Shea said the swim has expanded far beyond what he and fellow SEALs envisioned nearly two decades ago.
“It’s just an amazing event, and we’re excited to see where this has grown from,” he said.
What started as a handful of teammates swimming for a wounded friend has grown into a lifeline for families forever changed by loss. O’Shea says the weekend gives Gold Star relatives something invaluable — time with people who knew, loved and served alongside their fallen family members.
“They get to spend a weekend with teammates of their fallen brother, their son, their uncle, father,” he said. “It reminds them that their loved one is never lost, never forgotten and always remembered.”
Along the shoreline, the reading of names echoed across the water, each one representing a life, a legacy and a story carried on by the people they left behind.
For Gold Star families like Steven Workman’s, the Frogman Swim is more than an annual tradition. His brother, a Navy SEAL, was killed in Afghanistan in 2011 when a helicopter carrying 30 SEALs was shot down. He says events like this one create a rare space where grief and connection can coexist.
“This is like one of the times we all get to be together,” Workman said. “Once you get to know the people, and you go year after year, it helps a lot with the grieving process.”
For some parents, support from the Navy SEAL Foundation began on the hardest day of their lives. Gold Star father Tom Feeks says when his son Patrick was killed in 2012, the foundation made sure his teammates could stay with the family from the moment they received the notification until the day their son was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery.
“It allowed us to meet his buddies, and them to meet us,” Feeks said. “It pulled us back from losing our son, but it also gave us numerous other sons we’ve been able to depend upon over the last 13 years.”
Along the beach, kayaks sat still and silent — symbolic guardians honoring a bond that endures long after the swim ends.
Organizers say Sunday’s event raised more than $1.3 million for the Navy SEAL Foundation, supporting programs that continue to lift families long after the uniforms are folded and the ceremonies end